River-walk Plan To Go Before Town Boards

TORRINGTON — The city council and the planning and zoning commission will be asked next week to endorse a plan to build a river walk along the Naugatuck River between Main and Prospect streets.

They will also be asked to approve the idea of a pedestrian plaza along parts of Main, Water and Prospect streets.

Susan Affleck-Childs, downtown coordinator of the Main Street Action Team, said she hopes the project, if it goes forward, would be only the first stage in a river walk that would extend from the Torrington Commons shopping center to the senior citizens center.

Affleck-Childs and Torrington architect Mike Boe are pitching the project to local businesses and commissions. On Wednesday, they got the city park and recreation commission to endorse the plan.

If the council and planning and zoning commission like the idea, Affleck-Childs said, she would ask that the city apply for a federal grant to do the work.

If the city obtains the grant, which is administered through the state Department of Transportation, it would cover about 80 percent of the cost. Affleck-Childs said two grants administered through the state Department of Environmental Protection might cover the rest.

Mayor Delia R. Donne said this week that no city money would be available to help pay for the project.

The project, according to preliminary drawings, would include a wooden walkway along the riverbank and a deck area on the Main Street bridge across the river.

Along Water Street the plans call for creating a pedestrian plaza that would feature new sidewalks, street lamps, benches and trees.